I closed the box.

Luca’s face fell slightly.

“Not the apartment?”

“The apartment, yes.”

He exhaled.

“But I’m keeping the wall.”

“What?”

“For now.”

“Cruel.”

“You’ll survive.”

“Probably.”

I slipped the key into my pocket.

Then I reached for his hand.

His fingers closed around mine.

Not tightly.

Never tightly.

“Come on.”

“Where?”

“Dinner.”

“You’re choosing?”

“Yes.”

He smiled.

“Good.”

We walked toward the front doors.

Halfway there, I stopped.

“Luca.”

He turned.

“Yes?”

“Ask me.”

His entire body froze.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

His eyes searched mine.

“You just said—”

“I said ask.”

“Here?”

“Yes.”

“In this chapel?”

“Yes.”

His voice dropped.

“Isabella.”

I smiled.

“You’re getting nervous.”

“I have faced armed federal agents with less anxiety.”

“Good.”

He stared at me.

Then slowly reached back into his jacket.

This time he removed another box.

I laughed so loudly it echoed through the chapel.

“You had an actual ring?”

“I believe in contingency planning.”

“You are unbelievable.”

“So I’ve been told.”

He opened it.

Simple diamond.

Elegant.

Nothing enormous.

Nothing that looked like a price tag.

Exactly right.

Luca didn’t kneel.

I was glad.

He stood beside me.

Equal.

“Isabella Bennett, will you marry me?”

I looked at the doors.

Open.

Every single one.

Then at the man waiting for my answer.

Not demanding.

Not bargaining.

Not threatening.

Waiting.

“Yes.”

Luca closed his eyes.

For one second, Chicago’s most feared Moretti looked like someone had just returned oxygen to the room.

Then he kissed me.

Months later, we married in the same chapel.

The ceremony was small.

Emily cried louder than anyone.

Matteo sat in the second row.

Anna came but asked not to be photographed.

Rachel attended with three federal agents and claimed it was coincidence.

My father wasn’t there.

Neither was Damian.

I missed neither of them.

Before the ceremony began, I personally checked every exit.

Open.

Luca caught me inspecting the side door.

“Everything okay?”

“Yes.”

“You sure?”

I looked around.

No guards blocking doors.

No father holding my wrist.

No groom telling me fear created obedience.

Then I looked at Luca.

“I’m sure.”

When the music started, nobody walked me down the aisle.

I walked myself.

Halfway to the altar, Luca smiled.

Not because I belonged to him.

Because I was coming toward him voluntarily.

That difference was everything.

When the officiant asked if I took Luca Moretti as my husband, I looked toward the open doors one final time.

Rain had begun outside.

Of course it had.

Soft drops against stained glass.

The same sound as the night I escaped.

Only this time, I wasn’t running through it.

I wasn’t hiding.

I wasn’t asking anyone to save me.

I looked at Luca.

“I do.”

He smiled.

And when the ceremony ended, we walked outside together.

No armored car waiting.

No enemies surrounding us.

No one reaching for the door handle.

Just rain.

Luca held out his hand.

I took it.

Two years earlier, I had climbed into his car and asked him to help me destroy the men who thought they owned me.

In the end, that wasn’t what saved me.

Damian went to prison.

Grant fell.

Raymond faced trial.

My father lost everything he had sacrificed other people to protect.

But freedom had never been their destruction.

Freedom was the life I built afterward.

The foundation.

My name.

My home.

The choices I made when nobody stood over me.

And the man beside me who finally understood that loving me meant never closing the exit.

Luca opened the car door.

I looked at him.

“Bride?”

I laughed.

“Careful.”

“Mrs. Moretti?”

“Absolutely not.”

His eyebrows lifted.

“I’m keeping Bennett.”

“Of course you are.”

“Problem?”

He smiled.

“Would it matter?”

“No.”

“Then why ask?”

I kissed him.

The driver cleared his throat.

We ignored him.

When we finally climbed inside, Luca looked toward the chapel.

“The doors.”

“What about them?”

“They’re still open.”

I leaned back against the seat.

“Good.”

The car pulled into the rain.

Behind us, the chapel grew smaller.

But the doors remained open.

And this time, I knew they always would.